Metallica are currently hard at work on their upcoming 3D movie, Metallica Through The Never. While this is exciting news for the band’s fans, it does mean that the next studio album from Metallica is quite far off. Kirk Hammett tells GulfNews that the band tentatively intend to finish the new material during next year: “That’s what we’re hoping would happen. Whether that’s a reality, we’ll see. We’re recording stuff here and there but it’s a pretty slow process.”

Hammett continued by saying “Metallica Through The Never is taking precedence over anything else at the moment. We want to make sure the movie gets our full attention and it turns out the way we want it to turn out.”

Metallica have been known to take their time when recording new material, and Hammett says he quite enjoys the breaks between recording sessions, when he gets to play live on stage with the band: “I really enjoy playing live shows. It’s enormously satisfying writing songs. It’s not so fun for me in the studio because I am a bit ADD.”